I’ve honestly been quite uninterested in my last tank glamour for weeks now, but given how difficult it is to actually create interesting tank glamours for Alahra, I’ve not had the desire to work on the problem. While the Prototype Alexandrian Mail is a pretty nice-looking piece, it works somewhat poorly for Paladin in particular because of the protrusions on the back—they clip through a number of shields, doing so noticeably on the 270/275 Anima models (which I actually like, so I’d rather not glamour over my weapon). The Mail’s also bulkier than I normally like (though at least the Prototype version isn’t a bloody coat like damn near everything in Heavensward has been).

Mostly for the sake of it, I decided to try this morning, though I knew anything I did would probably be a temporary measure, since I think my ultimate goal is to get something more in line with the Shire/Scion style I’ve got going for most of my other looks. Truthfully, that’s going to likely be impossible for tank to begin with, since the Shire Fending stuff doesn’t share much thematically with the other gearsets, but I’m stubborn and do plan to try. In the meantime, I wanted something lighter for times when I need to tank for queue times, and truthfully there’s only one body piece that works for me, even after all this time.

Glamour Components
Head: Reading Glasses | Body: Mythril Cuirass (Snow White) | Hands: Orthodox Gauntlets of Fending | Legs: Yafaemi Chain Hose of Fending | Feet: Orthodox Greaves of Fending

The Mythril Cuirass has featured in basically every tank glamour I’ve ever been truly happy with for Alahra, since she just looks goofy in heavy armor most of the time. Way back in 3.0 I used a similar look for Dark Knight, and I ran that same look in Pure White for quite awhile as well. But since I’ve gotten pretty attached to the Yafaemi Chain Hose, I wanted to stick with those.

That meant doing something I almost never do: dye something Snow White. The color bothers me on almost everything, as it very rarely actually looks right to me. With the Yafaemi leg piece though, Pure White actually clashes, since the plating on them is more or less the game’s Snow White shade. It’s rare that I’m generally happy about the fact that the various Cuirass models lose their metallic sheen when dyed, but in this case, Snow White on the Mythril one (and probably most of the others, though I didn’t bother trying since the Mythril one’s the best) pairs up perfectly here.

Of course, the Orthodox side pieces are pretty much standard for me. I saw no good reason to deviate from them, since this is both an “in-between” glamour and they’re simply some of the best-looking pieces tanks have access to—they aren’t too plain, but they’re also not so elaborate that they don’t work with a wide variety of pieces. Though I’ve mostly moved back to the Elegant Rimless Glasses, I still think the Reading Glasses fit tanks better (in as much as glasses can fit tanks anyway, but the Marauder in the Scholar storyline wears them, so I take that as license to do what I want!).

I have a feeling I’m probably never going to escape this general look, since no matter how hard I try to find something, no body for tanks seems to actually work for Alahra other than the Cuirass model. I’m really hoping we get some more variety in Stormblood for tanks, as it’s sorely needed, most especially for female characters. While things did get better toward the end of Heavensward, when the art team finally started moving away a little bit from the standard pauldron coat, the largest majority of the tank stuff we get is big and bulky, especially on high level things.

Here’s to hoping, though it feels like the chance for more models like the Cuirass may be long gone, since that sort of thing normally seems to fall into lower levels. I would love to get something similar to the Iron Chainmail from FFXI, though, and if Stormblood can give me that, I’ll be very happy (especially if we get a variety of models that play around with it.